Job Description

Are you an experienced Clinical/Counselling Psychologist looking for the next step into a Principal role?



Are you looking to work within an innovative service that works with families to support both emotional and mental wellbeing?



An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Family Safeguarding Service for a Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join our team.



This service is a collaboration between health services and local authority Children's Social Care services offering a multiagency initiative allowing us to provide a 'whole family' approach to safeguarding children and improve parental mental health.



We supports adults, who are experiencing difficulties to meet the needs of their children and fulfil requirements of child protection plans. Improving parental mental health, improves family functioning and the outcomes for children, and contributes to the service aims of keeping families together.



Flexible working is available, with a combination of home visits, on-site appointments and remote working.



Work as an integral member of a multi-disciplinary team, which includes children's social workers, domestic abuse and substance misuse specialists, as well as mental health practitioners and clinical psychologists, to reduce risks to children.

Address the impact on children where parents have mental health difficulties and limited coping strategies, as well as problems arising from domestic abuse, and parental alcohol and substance misuse. This approach engages and empowers parents to make the changes required for better family functioning, more specifically to address parental mental health and improve emotional wellbeing and resilience.

You will be required to provide evidence-based opinion regarding parental mental health and share this with the MDT through review meetings such as Child in Need reviews and Child Protection Case Conferences.

Deliver specialist clinical work, and support other clinical staff, to engage clients in assessment and formulation based on relevant theory and research. They will provide evidence-based psychological interventions to improve parental mental health and improve outcomes for the most vulnerable children and their families.

Our interventions are underpinned by Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy and Systemic Family Therapy models. Emotional 'first aid' skills are key to supporting our clients through periods of crisis, whilst motivational interviewing supports in eliciting and maintaining their engagement



Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

Caring for and about you is our top priority



Committed to providing good quality, safe services



Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions



Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:



Flexible working options to support work-life balance



27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell



Generous NHS pension scheme



Excellent learning and career development opportunities



'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles



Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services



Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants



Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality



Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave



Free parking across Trust sites

The "must haves" for this role:

Post graduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology

HCPC registration or equivalent

Experience working across multiple agencies and services

Previous team management



For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.



We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.



We're committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.



We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don't hesitate to contact: Poppy Law Poppy.Law@berkshire.nhs.uk or Jo Hadfield jo.hadfield@berkshire.nhs.uk who'll be delighted to help or to arrange a call to discuss further.



Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.



We have identified that this is a role where we have underrepresentation of ethnically diverse colleagues. As part of our commitment to inclusion and Unity Against Racism we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who meet the essential criteria and identify as: Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Mixed and 'Other' Ethnic Groups.